1. Field
One embodiment of the invention relates to an electronic apparatus including a display panel that can be turned between a state in which a display surface is turned down relative to a main body and a state in which the display surface is put on the main body as it is turned up.
2. Description of the Related Art
Portable electronic apparatuses include a notebook electronic apparatus for enabling the user to raise a display panel relative to a main body and further turn the display panel from the state. Such an electronic apparatus includes a hinge part provided with a rotation shaft for rotatably supporting the display panel in the direction of raising the display panel relative to the main body and a pivot for rotatably supporting the raised display panel in the direction of turning the display panel.
An electronic apparatus has a hinge part incorporating an interlock pin for enabling the user to smoothly rotate a display panel with a rotation shaft or a pivot as the center is disclosed in JP-A-2004-53927. The interlock pin operates so as to lessen the rotational resistance of the pivot when the display panel is placed upright relative to the main body and so as to lessen the rotational resistance of the rotation shaft when a display surface of a rear of the display panel is directed to a keyboard.
However, the hinge part provided in the electronic apparatus described in JP-A-2004-53927 needs to be provided with a complicated mechanism for switching between the rotational resistance of the rotation shaft and the rotational resistance of the pivot. The hinge part and its periphery need to have a sufficient strength for holding the display panel in any desired attitude. Considering these points, the hinge part and its periphery become bulky.
As the display panel becomes large, a rotation shaft with large rotational resistance is applied to the hinge part proportionally. For the hinge part described in JP-A-2004-53927, the rotational resistance of the pivot lessens in a state in which the display panel is raised at a predetermined rotation angle with the rotation shaft as the center. Therefore, when the display panel is inclined with the rotation shaft as the center over the range beyond the predetermined rotation angle, if the rotational resistance of the rotation shaft is large, the display panel may rotate in the rotation direction with the pivot as the center accidentally.
Further, the display panel has a latch mechanism at a position opposed to the margin where the hinge part is provided. The latch mechanism fixes the display panel and the main body in a state in which the display panel is put on the main body. If the display panel is large, the latch mechanism cannot well be engaged due to a slight angle shift in the hinge part.